Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of submerged combustion glass melters and methods of use.
Background Art
Submerged combustion melters (SCM) and their operation may cause excessive water condensate to form due to the combustion process. A portion of the water vapor in flue gases may condense inside of the SCM rather than exit up the exhaust stack. As such, the water condensate may saturate the refractory lining of the combustion region of the SCM, may leech out portions of the refractory materials, may lessen thermal insulation properties of the refractory, and may provide corrosion initiators to the SCM metallic shell and other metallic structures, such as submerged combustion burners. The condensate may find its way, via gravity, to the lowest spots in the SCM, the bottom and side panels, and burner holders.
Refractory is currently secured to the melter structure, and the melter structure is kept cool through the use of cooling passages that pass a coolant therethrough (liquid or gas), as it is not currently practical to allow the SCM structure to run “hot”, i.e., above the steam condensation temperature.
It would be an advance in the submerged combustion glass melting art to develop melters and methods of using them that reduce or overcome one or more of these problems.